Thursday, June 30, 2011

Since we are on a library kick this week, I decided to combine literature with art. The original idea came from A Mom With a Lesson Plan. I believe I stumbled across that blog via The Crafty Crow.

Grace and I got this book from the library on Monday. We read it numerous times. I was uber excited to follow it up with the craft, but Grace wanted none of it. "No, no, no, Mama." Looking back, I'd probably start with the craft first (I'll explain later.)

The materials are easy and for me cost nothing. You need construction paper, paint, and a dropper. Now, I didn't have a dropper until I realized I had an empty Tylenol bottle upstairs in the medicine cabinet. I started with blue construction papers because they are supposed to be clouds, but Little Miss Independent added other colors. Notice the black in the background? She also added purple, red, and orange.

Yes, that is a shot glass to hold the paint, and it worked perfectly. She simply filled the dropper (with help) and dropped paint on one side of the paper. It took her a few times to get the squeezing part down, but after a few she was on her own.

We then folded the paper over and pressed our hands over it. Actually we called it squishing. Open it up and see what you have. Like the book, we wanted to see what the clouds looked like. I asked her, "Grace, what does it look like? Snow came up a lot, and I'm not surprised because yesterday morning she woke up requesting to play in the snow and build a snow fort. But then she told me it looked like spilt milk. And that is why I would do the craft first. My daughter would never have come up with that one by herself.

Here are a few finished cloud prints. We have snow, Grace, eyeballs, heart, and three. We also had more snow pics and the spilt milk.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Yesterday, Grace had her second art class. Together we made playdough sandwiches, lions, and elephants. She also drew a picture with pastels and sidewalk chalk. Since we were so close to the library, we headed over there for her to play with the puzzles again. We also found a big comfy couch and read a Dora the Explorer book.

My favorite thing that we did yesterday happened on the spur of the moment. In school, we call these teaching moments - times when you just stop what you planned and go with the flow. We were walking back to the car after art class when Grace noticed the light pole. She asked what it was? She made a comment about it being big. So, for the remainder of the walk, we just kept finding things (school bus, grass, leaves, trees, etc.) and she would tell me if it was big or small. Simple? Yes. But so worth it.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

This is the post that should have been written yesterday. But that didn't get done. Since our schedule is pretty random, I didn't want to create a calendar of activities. Frankly, I knew I wouldn't stick to the schedule. Now I just have to decide what kind of learning activity we'll accomplish in the morning.

Yesterday...

1. We made a calendar counting the days until Grace sees Landon. It is not neat, not straight, and really not all that colorful. Grace already had control of the markers and went to town.

2. Together we scanned Pinterest for activities.

3. We went to storytime at the library and learned about different clothing around the world.

4. We played at the library for over an hour doing every puzzle under the sun. They also have this giant bucket of bean bags, one for each letter of the alphabet. There is a clear side to showcase items that start with the specific letter. We also built towers out of blocks.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

It must start with a cup of coffee. Well, to be honest, it must start with a couple cups of coffee, especially since Grace has been getting up at 5:30 a.m. And Grace’s must-have-in-the-morning is Mickey Mouse.

Grace also loves to play with her farm and Little People strip mall. See the blanket in front of the tv? That is our permanent picnic blanket. See the eggs and sippy cup?

We play Princess Purplicious. A lot. It is supposed to be like Old Maid, but we simply just find matches.

“Let’s go again,” is a popular phrase from Grace.

Here is Hop Hop. The “silly bunny that eats Mommy’s flowers.”

And this would be the procession of birds that decided to grace us with their presence after one scare the beejeezus out of me when I tried to water the flowers. Apparently, my hanging basket is one of their homes.

5: 18 a.m. wake up call. Thanks Grace. (Note: This is becoming a trend. Today it was 5:30 a.m.)

Grace is currently singing "O, Christmas Tree." I have a feeling Christmas is a year round holiday in this house. Barney Christmas is a constant and Christmas carols are the most suggested bedtime song.

Grace had her first art class yesterday. She painted three pictures using stamps, brushes, and of course her fingers. And we got the coolest eye stickers, so we made little aliens out of them with just a bucket of crayons.

I really need to start using my camera.

Finished Keeper by Andrea Gillies. I was not overly impressed. The quote on the front cover said, "One house, three generations, and a journey with Alzheimer's." I expected a story about their house, not a science book. It was a mix of both, but I was sooooo tired of reading about dead guys who they think might have had the disease or differing opinions on drugs.

Today is supposed to be a scorcher - 100 degrees I think. Guess a new craft is on the table today instead of the zoo. Maybe we'll make handprint fireworks to get ready for the 4th of July.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Summer that is.Grace slept in until 6:30 a.m. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and got caught up on some blogs. I wish I could have registered for Craft Weekend with Meg at Whatever, but that isn't in the cards this time around. I welcomed the first Monday of summer break with a visit to the dentist. And I was reminded once again that I'm not the best flosser. Can you say bleeding gums? My summer reading list is growing longer by the minute. I can't wait. I'm anxiously awaiting two new books from Barnes and Noble. I loved playing Purplicious with Grace. I loved the cuddles I got. Too bad it was because she isn't feeling so hot right now. I got in 20 minutes of Turbo Jam. I need to start carrying my camera around. I want to insert pics on this blog more.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Today is officially the first day of summer vacation in this house. And to welcome me to it, Grace decided to get up at 5:20 a.m. And we are currently watching Barney's Twas the Night Before Christmas. But we did sign up for the summer reading program at the public library, and we did have a picnic lunch in the living room.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

I'm officially jumping the gun on this one, but I can't wait for summer vacation. I'm itching for summer vacation. Sadly, we still have school until June 17th. Thanks to Meg at Whatever, I have a really cool family tradition. This is our second year writing out the summer list.